What's the Deal with Quail?

[Kelly Klumpp]

I'm thinking of getting 8 quail chicks to raise on our property. The last couple of weeks I've been doing casual research, and seeing what I can gather about these birds. But I also have a lot more questions that I had trouble finding the answer to, or saw conflicting answers to. Any of the following questions answered would be quite a big help.


1. Are male quail aggressive?
(We have an aggressive rooster I may have mentioned before in another thread; would male quail attack a human or become very aggressive with females?)

2. Are quail really ok with smaller space?
(We free-range our chickens, and it is incredible to me that quail would be happy with just 1 square feet per bird! (the pen I plan to keep them in is over 11 square feet))

3. How long do quail live to be?
(Let's say no lights during the winter, and no predators.)

4. How would disease spread from chicken flock to quail flock or visa versa?
(Of course I am NOT letting the flocks be together, but I'm definitely ignorant on how poultry disease can spread; if they are close - becuz of chickens free ranging but separated by a fence, disease won't spread....right???)

5. What other problems might I face with 8 quails?
(Or less because I'm not counting on every quail to survive .)

6. What are the biggest advantages of having quail?
(This is just for an argumentative essay I may or may not be writing to convince my family that this is a good idea.)

 

[cherrynberry]

I am not sure with number one...BUT

2.) Quail don’t need much space. Some say 1 square feet for a pair is fine to. I, however, only have 7 quail in a 48 square feet pen. I plan to incubate a lot more though. I do see people keep them in small hutches, and they seem fine in small areas (they are really small)

3.) Quail live to be usually 3 years old for coturnix quail. They can however live to be 6 years though...

4.) Disease from chickens to quail spread through mainly poop, I think.

5.) Problems with too less quails, like 8 is that you can only have 1 rooster. Or else they may overrate the hens, much like with chickens. That’s one of the reasons why I want MORE!!!!

6.) There’s lots of reasons they are great!

- they eat less than half of what a single chicken eats
- they need less than half of the amount of space
- their eggs are allergen free (at least from what I heard)
- their eggs have not caused salmonella (never reported before)
- they lay eggs with more protein than chicken eggs when talking about the ratio of egg white to egg yolk
- they lay pretty much everyday
- they are easier to keep, as far as I am aware...I have never had to deworm them...
- they are allowed in most places...even the males
- the male’s crows are much more quiet

P.S. all the info is about coturnix quail

 

[Nabiki]

I would start with the link I'm providing here, then ask any questions you still have. Quail are great for us urban types who don't have space for chickens. Chickens are also considered loud for urban environments.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/quail.32/

 

[Kelly Klumpp]

I am not sure with number one...BUT

2.) Quail don’t need much space. Some say 1 square feet for a pair is fine to. I, however, only have 7 quail in a 48 square feet pen. I plan to incubate a lot more though. I do see people keep them in small hutches, and they seem fine in small areas (they are really small)

3.) Quail live to be usually 3 years old for coturnix quail. They can however live to be 6 years though...

4.) Disease from chickens to quail spread through mainly poop, I think.

5.) Problems with too less quails, like 8 is that you can only have 1 rooster. Or else they may overrate the hens, much like with chickens. That’s one of the reasons why I want MORE!!!!

6.) There’s lots of reasons they are great!

- they eat less than half of what a single chicken eats
- they need less than half of the amount of space
- their eggs are allergen free (at least from what I heard)
- their eggs have not caused salmonella (never reported before)
- they lay eggs with more protein than chicken eggs when talking about the ratio of egg white to egg yolk
- they lay pretty much everyday
- they are easier to keep, as far as I am aware...I have never had to deworm them...
- they are allowed in most places...even the males
- the male’s crows are much more quiet

P.S. all the info is about coturnix quail

I would start with the link I'm providing here, then ask any questions you still have. Quail are great for us urban types who don't have space for chickens. Chickens are also considered loud for urban environments.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/categories/quail.32/

Thank you so much, this is all great info! I'll defo check out the link!

 

[CovidtimeQuail]

At the beginning of COVID, I said I'd give coturnix quail a try for one year. Recently, I decided I'm going to keep raising them; I find them well worth the effort. I'll explain why in the following paragraphs.

They're mostly friendly, even the males. Males are not particularly aggressive toward humans -- more stand-offish if you ask me. The hens are friendly; they'll come and greet you in hopes of a treat like lettuce or mealworms.

If you only want eight birds, you'll probably have to buy/hatch 15-18 and dispatch all but one or two males since the males don't share their space or females well with other males. The good news is they're easy to dispatch with a pair of kitchen scissors or even your own hands. They also taste good, although for the effort I find them a bit small. My cat disagrees and finds them "just right." Honestly, I think if it wasn't for my cat egging me on, I'd have a hard time dispatching these cute feather balls.

Although coturnix don't free-range, I LOVE the deep bedding they produce for compost. I had no idea what was missing in my soil, but my plants sure did. (Note, it is a hot compost so it does have to age. I recently purchased a rotating composter and it usually takes a little less than a month before the shavings/poop are ready for use.)

They're economical to feed and the hens are highly productive egg layers. They eat game bird feed for the first 10 or so weeks of their lives, then a chicken layer feed which the males can also eat. (At least that's how I do it. The game feed is a bit too much fat/protein for my birds once they've matured.)

If you have 6-7 hens, you'll get 6-7 eggs daily, sometimes even more when they're in prime laying age at around 2-8 months old. They live around 2 years, but egg production slows after about 1 year (Going by the books on this one. My oldest ones are just about to have their first birthday.)

Anyhow, I think quail are well worth the effort. (If you ask me about aquaponics, I'd try to dissuade you instead.) Also, because I don't want you to feel like I've sent you just a sales pitch, I'd recommend you read this thread on some of the pitfalls of raising quail.

Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) the monster bird

 

[kurby22]

I will add that they are less needy (if you like that), and way quieter in general. They can be loud (I’m only referring to Coturnix) but I rarely ever hear them make noise. They also grow to maturity super fast and lay by 6 weeks! And they’re just super fun and pretty.

 

[Hiram Means]

As to quail roosters being aggressive, I've never heard tell of one attacking a human and if it did I can't imagen it would hurt.

As to being aggressive to each other, that depends on the male to female ratio you have and what kind of quail you want. I assume coturnix since they are the biggest meat/egg birds. The others are mostly for looking at or dog training or recovery breeding programs. However bobwhites are a good alternative for both egg laying and meat.

However if you're worried about aggression, coturnix are the most peaceful.

If you raise them, they'll probably come right up to you as grown ups!

With aggression towards other males make sure you meet space requirement and have probably at least three hens per male. However the males will be raised together so you probably won't run into problems. The ratio is also important to keep from aggression towards females.

The more females the merrier as you get more eggs, less aggression and yeah, hope this helps

Also with keeping them near chickens just make sure dung doesn't mix and they can't get into each other's areas and yo should be fine!

 

[Kelly Klumpp]

At the beginning of COVID, I said I'd give coturnix quail a try for one year. Recently, I decided I'm going to keep raising them; I find them well worth the effort. I'll explain why in the following paragraphs.

They're mostly friendly, even the males. Males are not particularly aggressive toward humans -- more stand-offish if you ask me. The hens are friendly; they'll come and greet you in hopes of a treat like lettuce or mealworms.

If you only want eight birds, you'll probably have to buy/hatch 15-18 and dispatch all but one or two males since the males don't share their space or females well with other males. The good news is they're easy to dispatch with a pair of kitchen scissors or even your own hands. They also taste good, although for the effort I find them a bit small. My cat disagrees and finds them "just right." Honestly, I think if it wasn't for my cat egging me on, I'd have a hard time dispatching these cute feather balls.

Although coturnix don't free-range, I LOVE the deep bedding they produce for compost. I had no idea what was missing in my soil, but my plants sure did. (Note, it is a hot compost so it does have to age. I recently purchased a rotating composter and it usually takes a little less than a month before the shavings/poop are ready for use.)

They're economical to feed and the hens are highly productive egg layers. They eat game bird feed for the first 10 or so weeks of their lives, then a chicken layer feed which the males can also eat. (At least that's how I do it. The game feed is a bit too much fat/protein for my birds once they've matured.)

If you have 6-7 hens, you'll get 6-7 eggs daily, sometimes even more when they're in prime laying age at around 2-8 months old. They live around 2 years, but egg production slows after about 1 year (Going by the books on this one. My oldest ones are just about to have their first birthday.)

Anyhow, I think quail are well worth the effort. (If you ask me about aquaponics, I'd try to dissuade you instead.) Also, because I don't want you to feel like I've sent you just a sales pitch, I'd recommend you read this thread on some of the pitfalls of raising quail.

Japanese quail (Coturnix japonica) the monster bird

Great! I didn't know you could compost the poo, thanks for the info!

 

[Kelly Klumpp]

I will add that they are less needy (if you like that), and way quieter in general. They can be loud (I’m only referring to Coturnix) but I rarely ever hear them make noise. They also grow to maturity super fast and lay by 6 weeks! And they’re just super fun and pretty.

Would a fence be enough to deter predators? I'm afraid of the fact most of their needs might lie with predators, although less needy birds are definitely a pro for me!

 

[Kelly Klumpp]

As to quail roosters being aggressive, I've never heard tell of one attacking a human and if it did I can't imagen it would hurt.

As to being aggressive to each other, that depends on the male to female ratio you have and what kind of quail you want. I assume coturnix since they are the biggest meat/egg birds. The others are mostly for looking at or dog training or recovery breeding programs. However bobwhites are a good alternative for both egg laying and meat.

However if you're worried about aggression, coturnix are the most peaceful.

If you raise them, they'll probably come right up to you as grown ups!

With aggression towards other males make sure you meet space requirement and have probably at least three hens per male. However the males will be raised together so you probably won't run into problems. The ratio is also important to keep from aggression towards females.

The more females the merrier as you get more eggs, less aggression and yeah, hope this helps

Also with keeping them near chickens just make sure dung doesn't mix and they can't get into each other's areas and yo should be fine!

Thanks! Males raised together won't be aggressive? I initially planned to take out any other males besides the one, but I had no idea males raised together wouldn't fight!